Odes

"Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market" by Pablo Neruda sings the praises of a large, dead, and presumably stinky fish, by exploring the speaker's fascination with and wonder about the life the fish led and the depths it explored. I asked my students to choose something that they would normally think of as gross, strange, scary, or otherwise not something you would write an ode about, and sing its praises in a poem.

I got this writing idea from another Poet-in-Residence, Meredith Clark. Many of the students attacked the idea of praising an unexpected object with gusto, although with one classroom they only got as far as thinking of something gross (many skunks and snakes), and perhaps got too caught up in the grossness to get around to praising.

One student wrote an ode to her socks; she was unaware of the Neruda take on this one. Her piece contains some nice wordplay, too. Some students went as far as to engage in some fantastic speculation, such as inviting the object of their ode to tea, or imagining that maybe it could jump 2,000 feet.

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Ms. Vilchis, Rm. 202, 3rd grade

Worms
Miguel C.

Oh worms, you go down in the ground.
You go up when it's raining.
and you stay on the floor until
the ground is dry and you go
down again.


Ode to a Snail
Araceli V.

Oh snail, you are so pretty. You came
from a little house. You look like a sphere.
I like how you swim. Then one day
one medium fish ate him.


Baby Octopus
Teresa P.

Oh, octopus, you have eight
legs. But you are pretty.
The octopus lives in the
ocean. There are some octopus that
have six legs. I wish I was
an octopus so that I had more
animal friends.


Oh Stinky Bug Come
Nicole O.

Oh, stinky bug, you are so smelly.
Oh, stinky bug, you're green and slimy.
Oh, stinky bug, you're so smelly, slimy,
and stinky. Come come stinky old bug,
come to my house for a tea party.
And the stinky bug said, "Thank you
for the tea."

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January 23, 2007
Ms. Vazzana, Rm. 104, 3rd grade

Skunk
Omar S.

Oh Skunk, you’re so smelly that
you can kill people. And with
that smell if you put it on me
I have to wash myself with
tomato juice.

Snake
Luis M.

Oh snake, you’re a bad animal.
Oh, snake, you’re a bad animal
because you kill animals. Oh cat,
you’re bad because you have sharp
nails.

Skunk
Vanessa G.

Skunk, you are stinky and
really ugly because you
smell. If you didn’t
stink and smell you
would be pretty.

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Ms. Hamdan, Rm. B15, 3rd grade

Ode to a little earthworm in the soil
Sergio P.

Oh,
Earthworm, Earthworm, with
your pink rolling eyes. You move
swirly around the dirt and sidewalk.
You got no legs but you can crawl
around. You sometimes eat grass--
that's vegetables to you--and the
soil is like a healthy soup to you.
The tip of your head is like a light
so you can see through your made-up
tunnels.


Ode to My Socks
Melissa V.

Oh,
sock oh sock
you move my feet
you can make me
warm of my feet
sole. I love my socks
and they are my
soul.


Ode to a Rat
Jordy D.

Oh rat, you are so furry, you
live in the attic where most people
are afraid of. Oh rat, you are
so small nobody else is smaller
than you, if only I could be
as small as you.


Frog
Judith G.

Oh frog I see you slimy.
Maybe you stick to ice.
Or you can stick your tongue
to a pole.
You might eat leaves.
Maybe you could jump 2,000
feet up.
Or you can count money.
You might be a red-eyed tree
frog
That's what I think you can
do.